The Eyes Have It

“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands . . . Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”

Psalm 119:10, 18 (NIV)

I made a decision to have Lasik surgery on my eyes. For years I had had a love/hate relationship with glasses and eventually contacts. They worked great during the day. That wasn’t the problem. It was at night that I struggled. I would wake up and look at the clock but couldn’t see a thing without grabbing my glasses. That action woke me up even more and I found myself wishing that I could actually see the numbers and then go right back to sleep.

After my husband passed away, I was determined to have the eye surgery done. I was not used to being alone and had more than one night of being afraid of unidentified sounds and not being able to see anything.

My rational for the surgery went something like this: if someone broke in to my home and tried to attack me, I would have to say “Excuse me, but could you stand there for just a minute so I can put on my glasses in order to see you clearly to hit you with my bat?” Instead, with the eye surgery, I could just grab the bat and whack the intruder in the head before he knew what happened!

The last straw came when I was showering and could not read the words on the bottle on the shower shelf. Did it say body wash or body scrub or was it a shampoo? With my glasses on, I realized that I was trying to read French on the bottle! Problem solved but who wears glasses in the shower?

May I just say that having the eye surgery was fantastic. I loved being able to see my clock at night without glasses or contacts. I felt more confident that I could quickly see what was causing noises in my home and I didn’t make the mistake again of trying to read what I thought was English on a bottle in the shower.

But as great as it is, Lasik is not perfect. I bought an umbrella with “gold” stamped on the package because it coordinated with my brown jacket and realized when I got home that it actually said “golf.”

David was referring to his spiritual – not physical - eyes as he asked God to reveal the wonderful truth in His instruction in Psalms. Notice he did not pray “God, make your word easy and simple to understand.” Or “Give me something that I can read in 60 seconds so I can get on with my day.”

He knew that there was so much more that he needed to learn. And he also knew that he could not keep God’s commands if he did not know what they were. David was constantly learning about a Father who loved him so deeply and he longed to know Him even more.

What about you? Do you long to know more about the inheritance waiting for you? Do you have questions about death or life or health or money or a million other things? It’s all there, in God’s Word. Ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes, just as He did with David, so you can experience all the wonderful things He has in store for you.

Father, too many times I do not ask you to reveal your word to me so that I can see with my heart what you want me to learn. Help me to experience you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Have you ever felt like the Bible was just too hard to understand and you felt like giving up on it?

• Did you ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes so you could understand the message in His Word to you?

Apply

• As you read Scripture, write down verses that you do not understand.

• Ask the Lord to reveal to you what He is saying to your heart. Share with a prayer warrior and discuss the verses together, using a Bible concordance.

Power

• Psalm 119:10, 18 (NIV) “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands . . . Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”

• Ephesians 1:18-19 (NIV) “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength…”

• Psalm 19:8 (NIV) “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”